A facility can operate normally on utility power and develop power quality problems after transferring to a standby generator. Drives trip, UPS systems report input faults and lights flicker—even though the load has not changed. Nonlinear loads are usually already generating harmonic current. The generator provides a weaker source, allowing the same current distortion to create greater volta...
Why a Solar Plant Needs Active Compensation A Static Var Generator (SVG) is an active, IGBT-based power-electronics compensator that stabilises voltage, supplies or absorbs reactive power and filters harmonic current at the point of common coupling (PCC) of a solar plant. It turns unstable PV output into grid-compliant power for EPC contractors, electrical engineers, procurement teams and power-qu...
When Power Quality Equipment Must Also Be Quiet A Static Var Generator is normally evaluated by reactive power capacity, response time, power factor control and harmonic compensation. In many installations, the equipment room adds another requirement: the solution must also control noise, dust exposure and maintenance demands. YT Electric’s Fanless Static Var Generator uses natural he...
Quick Answer An APFC panel is not simply permitted or forbidden on generator power. Compatibility depends on generator capacity, the power factor of the load that stays online, the size of each load step, harmonic distortion, available short-circuit capacity, governor and excitation response, the generator manufacturer’s limits, and the logic inside the APFC controller. On many standby syste...
SVG Reactive Power Compensation: Beyond PF Correction For decades, plant electrical engineers and facility managers viewed reactive power compensation through a single, narrow lens: avoiding utility low power factor penalty surcharges. Traditional solutions—primarily fixed capacitor banks and automatic power factor correction (APFC) panels—were designed solely to supply bulk capacitive...
The same capacitor bank that improves power factor during full production can push a facility into leading power factor when the load falls. This overcompensation often appears at night, on weekends, or after large motors stop while capacitors remain connected. A meter may remain close to 1.00, but “leading,” “capacitive,” or the direction of kVAr shows that the syst...
Medium-Voltage Sensing, Low-Voltage SVG Architecture Industrial plants, manufacturing complexes, and large commercial facilities frequently face a challenging power quality engineering dilemma: utility metering occurs on the medium-voltage (MV) intake bus (such as 6.6 kV, 10 kV, 13.8 kV, or 35 kV), while the vast majority of non-linear and inductive loads operate on the low-voltage (LV) 400V, 480V...